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LETTERS OF NATHANIEL NOYES. 

1774—1775- 



IN EXCHANG23 

'.E.Hlst. Genl. 3oc. 



[Reprinted from the N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register for April, 1889.] 



PKES3 OF David Clapp & Son. 






LETTERS OF NATHANIEL NOYES TO WILLIAM 
HENSHAW, 1774-1775. 



Communicated by Miss Harriet E. Henshaat, of Leicester, Mass. 



AMONG the papers left by a friend long ago deceased, are 
portions of the correspondence of Nathaniel Noyes with this 
friend. The following letters and fragments of letters are all that 
have escaped total loss. They relate some important events then trans- 
piring, with a vehement and forcible style expressive of the prevailing 
fears, beliefs and purposes, and add their testimony to the great 
struggle then made for freedom from oppression. They seem 
designed for places, as journeying then was, remote from the scene 
of action and source of information, and were sent by some confi- 
dential friend, to be delivered in person, or placed in charge of one 
equally trusty. 

The writer, Nathaniel Noyes, was born at Boston Dec. 20, 1743. 
He was a Latin school boy of the class 1752, completing his course 
in seven years. Benjamin Dolbeare and John Jeffries, M.D., were 
of Noyes's class, both in the Latin school and at Harvard College, 
where he graduated 1763, where his father Belcher Noyes also 
graduated 1727, and his grandfather Oliver Noyes, 1695. The dis- 
tinguished Jedediah Huntington, 8. Salter Blowers and Timothy 
Pickering were also his college classmates. He was called " Doctor," 
and established an apothecary store, in what is now called Faneuil 
Square, where he resided, and which had been his father's residence. 
Mr. Noyes was among those whose testimony was taken concerning 
the Boston Massacre. His deposition is as follows : 

Nathaniel Noyes of lawful age, testifies and says that on last Sabbath 
evening, the 4th clay of March current, a little after dark, he saw five or 
six soldiers of the 14th and 19th Regiments, each of them with clubs, passing 
thro' Fore Street, and heard them say that "if they saw any of the 
inhabitants of this Town out in the streets after 9 o'clock, they swore by 
God, they would knock them down, be they who they will." 

Suffolk Ss. Mch 16, 1770. Nath^ Noyes. 

Belcher Noyes was one of the Justices before whom this Deposition 
was sworn. 



Having a liberal education, descended from educated, wealthy, 
and influential families, and allied by marriage to others of distinction 
in several respects, it is probable that he could maintain an important 
influence among his associates. At the time of w^riting these letters, 
he seems to have been closely employed in various offices necessary 
to the public good and safety, being one of the Committee of Ways 
and Means, Clerk of Inspection, &c. This correspondence must 
have ceased soon after the date of the last letter. 

Mr. Noyes's name appears, in 1782, as Clerk of the Continental 
Loan Office. In 1789 he was Secretary of the Massachusetts 
Charitable Association, and as such he signed a call for a meeting of 
said Society at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, State Street, Dec. 7, 
1789. 

He continued to occupy the same spot as a residence, until within 
a few years of his decease which occurred March 29, 1823. Mr. 
Noyes had three wives, but no children. 

The one addressed by this correspondence, William Henshaw, 
was also a Boston boy, born Sept. 20, 1735. At the South Gram- 
mar school, under Master John Lovell, he was pursuing a course 
preparatory for College, when his studies were interrupted by his 
father's removal to his estate, Leicester, Mass. But he diligently 
applied himself to books, and in the retirement of country life 
improved such opportunities as he had at home, at the same time 
gaining a knowledge of agriculture. At the age of 23, as 2d Lieut, 
he joined a Worcester Co. Regiment, commanded by Brigadier 
Timothy Ruggles, for the conquest of Canada. After one campaign, 
he was transferred to the British ti*oops under Gen. Amherst. He 
was afterwards for a few yeari engaged in mercantile life. Fre- 
quent visits to his native town, and communications with relatives 
and friends devoted in heart and purse to the patriot cause, kept 
him well acquainted with the principftl occurrences of the times. 
Some of these friends made his town their dwelling place or resort, 
when obliged to flee from Boston. They were in correspondence 
with leading spirits in distant parts, Jedediah Huntington, Samuel 
Adams and Joseph Warren. One of these temporary residents 
was Joshua Henshaw, jun., another classmate of Nathaniel Noyes, 
who could corroborate some of his statements. These advantages, 
added to natural abilities, made Mr. Henshaw influential in his 
community, and aided in moulding public opinion. He was often 
on the board of select-men, and presided over their meetings. At 
the time when the letters herewith given were penned, Mr. Hen- 
shaw, who had served as Town Clerk most laboriously and untir- 
ingly, had long been in communication wath William Cooper, was 
now an active member of the Committee of Correspondence for the 
county of Worcester, which first met at Worcester Aug. 9, 1774, 
when he was Clerk of the Convention, which continued by adjourn- 
ment till May 31, 1775. It is related by some historian that "In these 



meetings Mr. Henshaw took an important part in its proceedings." 
On the 21st Sept. the Convention advised to the "organizing and 
officering" seven regiments of troops in the county, and upon the 
motion of Mr. Henshaw, recommended that one-third of the men of 
the respective towns between 16 and 60 years of age, be enlisted, 
"to be ready to act at a minute's warning,^" and that each town 
in the county choose a sufficient number of men as a committee to 
support and supply those troops that shall move on any emergency. 
This loas the origin of that most ejficient organization Icnoicn as 
^^ minute-men,''^ who evinced their claim to this title by the prompt- 
ness -with which they acted. A regiment of these " minute-men " 
was then organized in Worcester County, of which Mr. Henshaw was 
elected Colonel," and as such marched on the eventful 19th April to 
Cambridge, where he served in various capacities, one of them being 
as a member of the Council of War, acting in connection with the 
Committee of Safety in reconnoitring the heights about Cambridge 
and Charlestown, and as chairman of a sub-committee of Council of 
W^ar, signing a report of the same. 

In the following June he obtained a discharge from the army and 
returned home, but was soon commissioned by the Provincial Con- 
gress, Adj. General. After the arrival of Adj. General Gates, he 
continued as his assistant in that office until Jan. 1776, when Gen. 
Washington personally solicited his acceptance of the command of a 
regiment, offering him the choice of three. This he declined because, 
after consultation with officers of those regiments, he considered such 
arrangement injurious to the service, but consented to be a Lieut. 
Col. under Col. Little. In the sickness and absence of Col. Little, 
the command devolved upon him much of that following year. He 
was again offered the command of a regiment by Gen. Washington, 
and still again by the Continental Congress. But knowing the 
ranks were to be recruited, and that old officers were desirous of 
promotion, he declined; remaining, however, a month after the 
expiration of the term of service, and the eventful and decisive battle 
of Princeton. In March, 1777, he left head quarters and returned 
to his home and the more inviting pursuits of civil life, entering 
immediately upon a course of active labors in co-operation with 
Army service. Again he was with Committees of Correspondence, 
of Safety and Supplies. In those years he several times represented 
his town in the General Court. In company with a townsman of 
eminence, he was a Delegate to the Convention for framing a State 
Constitution, where, it is stated, "they held an honorable position, 
and took an important part in its proceedings, especially as members 
of its committees." This was a happy point in his history, as he 
saw so much of the world and wisdom of the State assembled 
for an object so great in importance and consequences. It was with 
a keen sense of enjoyment that he there met so many personal friends 
who had borne their share in the great conflict, some being in a 



6 

greater or less degree his kinsmen : John Atlams, of his own age, 
having so great a share in the formation of the Constitution, and 
destined to be President of all the States ; Increase Sumner and 
Samuel Henshaw from Alilton, who had rendered important service 
in the discovery of Gov. Hutchinson's letter book, &c., and who 
received the first appointment as Collector of Customs, Boston, after- 
wards Judge of Probate at Northampton. 

Col. Henshaw was commissioned as Justice of the Peace, by Gov. 
Hancock, and in due time, of the Quorum ; and by every succeeding 
Governor, the last being his companion-in-arms, and highly esteemed 
friend, Gov. John Brooks. As an acting Magistrate he performed 
much business in his county, and had various appointments under 
the national administration. Col. Henshaw was held in great 
esteem by the citizens of Leicester, where he died Feb. 20, 1820. 



Kind Sir, 



No. I. 

Boston July 13"^ 1774. 



Yours of the 9"^ Instant came safe to hand, & beg leave by the same 
Conveyance to acknowledge, the favourable Notice you are pleased to take 
of mine, & your readiness to maintain a Correspondence. 

The Resolves of your Town & Districts you were pleased to send me, 
are noble, & discover a firm, resolute, & determined spirit to oppose the 
Efforts of ministerial Tyranny — As I have an Opp^ of conversing with most 
of our good Patriots & the Committee of Correspondence, shall be able to 
communicate to you the most authentic intelligence which centers here from 
every part of the Apierican Continent. It is with pleasure I can acquaint 
you of the noble spirit & friendship of our good Brethren in Charlestown, 
8° Carolina,* who have subscribed one thousand Barrells of Kice, 204 
Barrells of which came yesterday in a Vessell from that place, consigned 
to the care of Jn° Hancock, John Rowe, & Sam' Adams, Esq'^ to be dis- 
tributed at the Discretion of the Overseers & the Committee of Ways & 
Means, for the Releif of the industrious poor. 

I would observe to you S"", that the 204 Barrells are the Donation ot 
twenty Gentlemen, who have order'd JSP Rowe to pay the freight, & draw 
on them, to prevent the Town being at any charge. The remainder will be 
sent as soon as their Crops are gather'd in. Our Committee have received 
Letters from Baltimore in Maryland who have had large County Meetings, 
and resolved to stop the Exportation of Tobacco to Great Britain. In 
Consequence of this, two Vessells partly freighted with this commodity, 
were immediately unloaded — They directly forwarded their Resolutions to 
Virginia, for their P^xample which, no doubt, will be followed with spirit 
& unanimity. Thus kind Providence has raised up the whole Continent, 
.as our Friends and Benefactors; & I can assure you, Sir, that We in this 
Town (a few mercenary Tools excepted), strengthened & encouraged. 

Friends in the Country, who, I trust, are too well aware of their low 
Cunning & Sophistry to be deceived into any mistaken Notions. The 
British Ministry have taken every Measure to divide & deceive, but the 

* See Register, vol. 30, p. 378. 



Blucle of the Hook is too visible to Any but weak, ignorant, & unsuspecting 
Minds, wlio perliaps may be decoyed by the Bait. Tlie Addressers and 
Protesters meet with a cool Reception in the Country, & especially at 
Norwich, in Connecticut, where one of them went, & being known as one 
of that wretched Group, was ordered immediately to leave the Town, or 
mount the Cart, which was prepared for him ; finding the Country too warm 
at this season, he came to Town last evening, & waited on his Excellency 
to inform of his treatment. 

By our last advices from London, we hear of the death of the King of 
France, & the Ministry's unwillingness to believe it, is strong evidence of 
the truth of it. This, 'tis thought, will inevitably produce a War. — This is 
all I have at present to write, you are at liberty to communicate this to your 
Committee, that they and the good people of the Town may know the 
hearty Disposition of our Brethren in the Colonies. 

Any letters to our Committee, you may direct to me & they shall be 
carefully delivered. I am. Sir, 

AVith all due Respects, 

Your Friend & Servant, Natii'^ Notes. 

P. S. I shall not publish anything without your permission. 



No. II. 

[The upper portion of this letter is missing.] 



force in their Bov/els, but Sir, we are not intimidated at the Noise of 
Troops. Our meeting will be adjourned from year to year, till our 
Grievances are redressed, & confldiiig in the promis'd Support & Assist- 
ance of our Provincial Brethren, we shall persevere with tlie usual spirit 
& firmness, "any Laws or Acts to the contrary notwithstanding." M' 
Justice Gridley (one of the Bastards born & christen'd in the expiring 
Administration of that infamous Traytor & perjur'd Hypocrite, Tlio'' H — 
h — n) has been exercising Iiis autiiority, on the complaint of a Soldier 
against M'' Plarris of this town. Baker, for encourag° him to desert. M"" 
Justice hearing the Soldier's plea, iminediately fin'd M"" Han-is £10 — & 
his Servants £5 sterling. Mr. Harris desir'd leave to bring in Evidence to 
acquit himself of the Charge — This Justice in a very insolent manner told 
him the King wanted no such lilvidence, & dismissed liini without hearing 
his Defence. — This is done with a View to breed Confusion it Disorder, & 
Wo be to those infernal AVretches if ever an Insurrection begins : We shall 
never be at peace, till [ ] of these worthless Canker Woi'ms are 

crush'd by the vengeance of a too long injur'd & insulted people. I have 
one thing to offer to your consideration which I liope will not pass unnoticed 
by the Country. There are those among the Addressers & Scotch Men who 
have been free to say, the Country people will not stand to their agreement, 
& only mean to deceive Boston, for they would buy Goods, had they any 
among them to sell, — & are employing a Number of Pedlars to go into 
the Country & sell for them. The Country People will treat them, 
I hope, with the utmost severity, & jiunish them according to the Laws of 



8 

the Land & the Times. Please to give notice of this to your Friends 
around you, & circulate it by advertising publickly, which will frustrate the 
Design. AVe liave now certain News of the death of the King of Franco, 

confirmed by Vessells from other parts, this will make a very material 

Alteration in the system of Politics. 

Agreeable to your Desire, have shown your Resolves enclosed in a for- 
mer letter, to M" Adams, who approves of them — but I cannot publish them, 
as they are not authenticated by the Town Clerk. This Defect may give 
our Enemies Occasion to question the truth of them ; as they do not regard 
Truth themselves, they are jealous of others. We had another Town 
Meeting last Tuesday, when a Committee of Seven were chose, to advise & 
consult on the best measures to be pursued respecting the other Acts, to 
prevent Confusion & disorder. They also appointed Three to draught a 
circular Letter to every Town & District in the Province, which is accord- 
ingly sent to you, with two other Towns enclosed, which must beg the 
favour of you to forward directly. To our Friends in the Country we look 
for Advice & Example, & hope they will be pleased to afford us all that 
support & Assistance can possibly give. I have nothing further to com- 
municate but my good Wishes for the Welfare & prosperity of the Province, 
& hope you will kindly excuse my being so lengthy at this time. 

I remain 

Your Friend & Servant 

Natu" Notes. 



No. HI. 
Sir— 



Boston Aus' 13"' 1774. 



Your favour of the 30''" ult° came duly to hand, & am pleased to 
find the Eesolution of your County to prevent the Execution of the two 
last Acts — The Town of Boston at this particular Crisis must greatly govern 
itself by the spirit & firmness of the Country. Our Enemies are advancing 
one step after another, till they drive to a state of Desperation which 
borders on madness, & which will finally involve them in our destruction. — 
We watch their motions, & use means to counteract them — As a Centinel 
in the Cause of Liberty, I think it my Duty to inform you & our good 
Friends in the Country that a Regiment, we hear, are ordered to march to 
Worcester, one half of which is to march to the County of Berkshire, to 
enforce the two Acts, — it is also confidently reported that some of the 
Jesuitical Tools in your County have wrote for Troops, having the Vanity 
to think that four hundred Men can drive a whole County. Our Committee 
of Correspondence, by a Vote of the Town, appointed five Delegates to 
represent this Town at a County Congress to be holden on Tuesday next, 
the result of which shall write you when it is known. I herewith send you 
a List of the new-fangled Council.* — 

Tho' Oliver, president Joshua Loring 

Foster Hutchinson Tho' Flucker 

John Erving, Juu"" James Boutineau 

Harrison Gray Joseph Lee 

William Pepperell Isaac Winslow - 

* For some notes on the Mandamus Councillors, see Register, vol. 28, p. 61. — Ed. 



Thomas Hutchinson Jn° Chandler 

Jon* Simpson Tim'' Paine 

Rich*^ Lechmere John Murray 

Isaac Royal Abijah Willard 

To consider. William Vassall Josiah Edson 

To consider. Rob' Hooper Daniel Leonard 

To consider. James Russell Nat. Ray Thomas 

To consider. Joseph Green Peter Oliver 

Sam' Danforth George Watson 

John Erving Sen"" Jere*" Powell 

Israel Williams W™ Brown 

Jn° Worthington And^ Oliver 

dead. Tim^ Woodbridge Tim^ Ruggles 

The above 10 are sworn Councillors & sworn Enemies to the Liberties 
of their Country, & ought to be treated as such. — 

This is all at present, from your Friend & Servant, 

Nath" Notes. 

P.S. Please to excuse bad Addressed — 

writing, being in great " To 

haste. M' W" Henshaw 

at Leicester." 



No. IV. 

Boston Aug' 30'^ 1774. 

Sir— 

The present alarming Situation of our public affairs constantly pro- 
ducing something new in the political System, it is the Duty & Interest of 
every Individual who regards the Welfare of his sinking Country, to 
communicate every important Event to his Friends in the remotest Corner 
of the Province. The Eyes of the whole Continent are placed upon this 
devoted Province, who are called upon to Stand foremost in the Struggle for 
American Liberty : the noble firmness & resolution of one County is an 
animating & encouraging Example for Opposition to the Other. 

Notwithstanding the artful threats & the dreadful marks of intimi- 
dation which our pitiful Enemies, the dying Faction, are continually using, 
in terroreni, altho' we are surrounded with Troops, animated by the 
spirit of our good Fellow Country men, we dare be bold in the Cause of 
Liberty, «& oppose the scepter'd Tyrants & licensed Robbers of State, with 
all their military myrmidons. This day the Superior Court met, when the 
recorded Traitor had the impudence to take his seat as Chief Justice, but 
to his great mortification, met with that scorn & Contempt he so justly 
deserves. The Grand Jurors & Petit Jurors with a Resolution & firmness 
becoming free born Americans, nobly refused to take the Oatlis ; being 
asked the reasons, they informed the Traitor that they had committed them 
to writing & were ready to read them to the Court by their permission — 
But guilt staring these sinful wretches in the face, they could not bear to 
hear the Truth, &, would not permit the Jurors to read their Reasons. — 
As the particulars will be in the paper, I will not trouble you with 
rehearsing. I only write this for the Satisfaction of our good Friends in 
the Country, who may be assured that We in Boston will not sacrifice our 
Rights & Privileges, but are determined to defend them at the expense of 
everything dear to us. 



10 

General Gage is reduced to a miserable dilemma — the Council is daily 
forsaking him — M'' Loring the drunken Commodore of Roxbury was waited 
on, by numbers of People, who gave him till Thursday night to consider of 
it, & if he did not resign, they would destroy his house. Danforth & Wins- 
low, Pepperell & Loring it is said, will resign. Poor Boston is become an 
Asylum for a Hiiggles, Murray, Edson, Ingersoll ^ Leonard, & all other 
exil'd Wretches who make this their pi-esent City of Refuge. We have no 
foreign News. We are all quiet, peaceable, & steady, but firm and deter- 
mined to maintain our Liberties to the last. — Having nothing further to 
communicate, but remain 

Your Humble Servant, 

Nath'^ Notes. 

250 Soldiers are now taking the Powder out of the Powder House 
belong" to that Town & County. You are desired to send this news forward 
as fast as possible. 

Sept^ 1" 1774. 
Sir — 

Having finish'd my Letter, think it my Duty to inform you of some 
new Mano3Uvres that have taken place. Early this morning 240 Troops 
were convey'd by the boats from the Transports over Winnisimit Ferry to 
land at Mystic and from thence to march to Salem to join the Regiment. 
The Governor is determined to commit the Committee of Correspondence 
of that town to Gaol if they will not give Bonds for holding a Town 
Meeting without his leave — how this affair will end. Time will discover 
— Gage has sent Orders to the Sheriff of Middlesex County to take 
out all the Powder belong^ to said County & bring it to Boston. It is 
now on the Road. He & his infamous Couucill met Yesterday in Town, 
said Event is supposed to be the Result of their Advice. They have, it is 
this, sent the same Orders to every County Sheriff thro' the Province — I 
send you this advice that you may be in readiness & guard against it. 
How long must we bear these things from a corrupt & abandoned Power — 
We are informed that Gage said he was determined to protect the Court 
at Worcester, at the risque of every man in the Common. A Regiment, we 
hear, are preparing to march for that place. 

This in haste, from 

Your Humble Servant 

N. Notes. 

Please to keep my Name secret — you may communicate the Advice — I 
shall take the freedom to advise you of every Event. 



No. V. 

Boston March 22<^ 1775. 
Sir 

My deep Engagements in the public business of this town, as Clerk 
of the Committee of Inspection, must plead an apology for my not answer- 
ing you sooner. It gives me pleasure to find by the Resolutions of our 
Country Friends, the Garrisoned Traitors against the Liberties of this 
Country, have been dispers'd & brought to oi'der ; these are the People 
who may properly come under the Characters of Rebels & Seditious 



11 

Conspirators against the Peace & Order of Government, & as such I hope 
will be one day treated. This factious Junto have fled from the Resent- 
ment of their Countrymen into the Arms of Tyranny for Protection, & 
make Boston their present Asylum, & will be very conveniently exposed to 
the just Vengeance of their injured Countrymen, if ever they are provoked 
to take up Arms in defence of their Rights & Liberties. Notwithstanding 
the fair promises of an half-witted General, we are continually meeting 
with Insults & abuses of one kind or another, by stopping the Inhabitants 
of Town & Country, as they go in & out of Town, by threats against the 
Selectmen & Committee of Correspondence, & above all, in a late high 
handed offence of tarring & feathering an honest Countryman,* whom they 
seduced & decoyed into the Barracks, and have by this Deed, established the 
Act of Parliam' for tarring & feathering by Royal & military Authority. 
The Committees from Billerica & other towns, waited on the General last 
Wednesday, but he being jealous of the Design of their Errand, absconded, 
they pursued him till they found him at the Admiral's house, — he agreed 
to receive them the next day. They accordingly waited on him at the time 
appointed, & presented a Remonsti-ance to him, against the brutal Conduct 
of his Officers & Troops. All the Satisfaction they could obtain was, that 
ColP Nesbitt who headed this military mob had asked his Pardon, & 
given him satisfaction: they told him it was none to them, he told them 
he understood it was the Custom of the Country to tar & feather, they told 
him they understood he came to quell all Riots & Tumults of that kind. 
He said he would take care the like should not happen again. 

We have received very agreeable intelligence by the Packet, the Physic 
now begins to work at home, and if it does but restore them to a sound 
State of Body, & they have prudence enough to keep themselves so, they 
will have Reason to bless America for the Portion. — The Merchants at 
length begin to rouse themselves from their dull, sleepy state, more from 
principles of Interest, than any Regai'd to us. they have chosen Com- 
mittees to present Petitions to the King, and I hope he will [have] sense 
enough for once in seven years to read them, & attend to their importance. 
The AVest India & Bristol Merchants have joined them, the manufacturing 
Towns & Counties are all in motion for this purpose. Our Friends advise 
Us to keep firm & steady in the pursuit of our IMeasures, & we shall 
gain our points to our Wishes. We must not relax in the least, but prepare 
for the worst, lest the Ministry should take Us at some unguarded hour. — 
they intend to try a Plan to divide the Colonies, but they are too late in 
the day for this Attempt. 

I hope our good Friends in the Country will not suffer themselves to be 
led away by any flattery, but keep on in a steady pursuit of every Measure 
adopted for the Salvation of tlieir Country. I trust, S'', you will not be 
wanting in inculcating this Doctrine. The Tories are confounded at this 
News, & begin to say one to another. What shall We do? They endeavour 
to comfort one another in an unbelief of the Truth of the News. — General 
Gage's Underlings made a Seizure of 13 Boxes of Cartridges last Saturday, 
abused Several Country men going out of Town, Stopp'd their Carts, & 
Search'd them, cut them in a cruel manner, & are continually guilty of 
the most brutish & cowardly Actions. They threaten to assassinate Coll° 
Hancock & M"^ Adams. In short, this whole factious Junto seem disposed to 

[The rest is wanting.] 

* Thomas Ditson, Jr., of Billerica. Sec Hazen's History of Billerica, p. 234, and Essex 
Gazette, Salem, Mar. 14, 1775. — Editor. 



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